Dinner with the Burke family was always a fun affair. They'd grown up in the military all their lives, which meant that they often had to miss out on family time, and so the Burkes had always made an effort to make the few occasions when they were together all the more special to make up for it. They would share stories, joke, laugh, mess around, but this time, it seemed a lot more subdued.

Ben sat, unusually just pushing his food around on his plate. He looked over to Cole, who the General had invited to join them, feeling some trepidation. General Burke just looked to Cole and smiled.

"You know, I've been hearing a lot of good things about you." He announced. "Tell me, how does someone with such an impeccable record end up on the night shift?"

"Someone needs to do it, sir." Cole answered promptly. "It's a good duty. It's peaceful; it gives me time to think."

"Oh, I remember those shifts well." General Burke responded. "When I was first made Lieutenant, I was posted to the Administrative Office in a base in...oh, where was it? Berlin? Yes, yes it was Berlin. Frightfully dull! In all honesty, I spent about ninety percent of my day serving drinks and driving the General around! I was a glorified chauffeur and valet! Dullest six months of my career! I was actually thrilled when I got sent to a conflict zone! I swear, I can still remember the way that General ordered his morning latte almost 30 years later!"

"I'm happy to do whatever helps Grid Battleforce." Cole announced. "My dad worked on the railways, clearing tracks. He always used to say 'people might not celebrate me like they do a movie star, but if I wasn't on shift for a week, pretty quickly people would notice when they couldn't get where they need to go'."

"That's a damned good way of looking at it!" General Burke responded. "Did you hear that, Ben?"

"I heard, dad." Ben mumbled.

"The Burkes have always said that there are no small jobs. For every Burke that led a successful campaign there was one that made sure the ammunition was ordered and the uniforms were clean and pressed."

Cole just nodded, continuing to eat.

"But still, I'm sure you would want to do more someday." General Burke pressed on.

"If Grid Battleforce sees fit to give me more responsibility I'll take it on, sir." Cole sighed. "Truth be told, a lot of the reason I'm on night shift is down to discipline. An unfortunate incident involving a prisoner in my custody..."

"Ah, yes, the Eli Reeves incident." General Burke interrupted him. "I wouldn't worry about that too much, my boy."

"He was in my watch and he escaped." Cole answered.

"Well, yes, but I hardly think that can be held ENTIRELY against you." He replied.

"I take responsibility for my failures..."

"My boy, I have much higher security clearance than the disciplinary board. I've seen Mr Reeve's sealed records." General Burke told him. "Trust me, if he didn't want to be held, I doubt Cerberus could have kept him for long. Let's just say some very specialist units trained him very well."

"I don't mind serving my time." Cole stated.

"Well, consider it served." General Burke replied. "I hate to see good people wasted. I'm sure that your loved ones would like to see you improve your lot."

"I don't have much family." Cole sighed. "My mom and I don't really talk much. We send each other messages at the holidays and that's about it. My dad, I haven't actually seen since I was a teenager."

"Well, the great thing about family is you can find it anywhere if you know where to look." General Burke said with a smile. "I mean, good looking young man like yourself, I'm sure the ladies are just lining up around the base."

Ben spluttered a little. Betty just blushed. It wasn't that long ago she was crushing on Cole hard. Cole just took a sip of his water.

"Sir?" He asked.

"Oh, I hear things." He said with a smirk. "I happen to know there are a lot of whispers about you being on the top ten list around here for a lot of young ladies..."

"Um...I wouldn't know about that sir." Cole answered him. "The thing is, I'm...I'm not looking for that."

"I'm sure you can't honestly tell me your eye hasn't been caught by someone on the base." General Burke teased him.

"Dad, would you leave it alone?" Betty begged him. "He already said..."

"It's alright, Betty." Cole interrupted her. "Sir, the thing is, I'm not interested in ladies. I'm actually gay."

General Burke just smiled and nodded.

"As were some of the finest people I've ever served with." He boomed, taking a sip of wine. "Best thing that ever happened, getting rid of that Don't Ask nonsense. Let me tell you, when you're under fire, the only thing you care about is there's someone there next to you who wants to get out alive just as much as you do!"

Cole just cast a little gaze in Ben's direction, seeing him drawing into himself a little. General Burke just carried on eating.

"So, if you're ready to move on, I think I can have a word with Commander Shaw." He told him. "Onward and upward."

"I like it here." Cole told him. "I really don't want to move on right now."

"Oh, is there some attraction keeping you here?" General Burke asked.

"Well, I..." Cole stammered, looking to Ben. "I'd really rather not say, sir. Just, take me at my word, I don't want to go anywhere right now, even if that means all there is available is night shift."

"Ben, can you understand this?" General Burke asked him. "Here I am, offering the man a way out of purgatory and he seems to want to stick around."

"It's his business, dad." Ben replied.

"I just want to help the lad. He clearly has potential!" General Burke answered. "If there's nothing holding him here then..."

"That's just it, dad, there is." Ben stated. Cole just looked to him, beginning to move like he was going to reach for him, but Ben held up a hand. "It's...it's alright."

"Ben, what's going on?" General Burke asked him. Ben just sighed.

"Dad, there's something I need to tell you." Ben told him. "Dad, I'm...I'm gay."

He looked towards Cole, who just nodded.

"Cole and I, we're...we're together." He continued. General Burke looked between them, before a smile crossed his face.

"Ben, come here." General Burke told him. Ben got up and rounded the table, at which his dad got up, hugging him tightly. "I couldn't be more thrilled for you."

"You're really alright with this?" Ben asked him. He just looked to Cole.

"Seeing you end up with a fine young man like this?" He asked. "What could be better?"

"Wait, dad...did you know?" Betty asked. They all stared at him.

"Of course I knew! Like I said, I hear things!" He assured them. "I just wanted to let Ben tell me in his own time. I just...felt like maybe he needed a little nudge."

"Dad, I can't believe...you knew?" Ben asked. General Burke just nodded.

"I've known for a long time." He assured him. "And I couldn't be more proud of you."

He then looked towards Cole.

"And as for you, I just hope you're taking good care of my boy." He told him.

"I fully intend to, sir." Cole assured him. "Um...I do have to ask though, all those things you were talking about before, was that all because...?"

"My boy, I am absolutely thrilled that someone is looking out for my boy, and of course I would want to help out anyone that cares for my children so much as much as I can." He replied. "But one thing I never take lightly is my duty. I would not offer you any position I felt would put those in my care at risk. I believe you have a lot to offer Grid Battleforce, young man."

"Well, whatever you feel I can do to help would be appreciated." Cole answered. "But for obvious reasons, I don't really want to do anything that takes me away from the base."

"Don't worry about that. If you want to stay, you're going absolutely nowhere." General Burke assured him. "Now, how about we finish this wonderful meal? Your shifts begin soon, and I'd really rather not be eating leftovers for the next week."

With that, Ben went back to his place, but he paused as he did, looking towards Cole, he picked up his plate and moved around, sitting beside him.

After the events of the day, it almost felt like a relief as night started to roll in. The base was a hive of activity as people were scrambling to prepare for Evox's inevitable return, but there was only so much anyone could do. All the overtime pay in the world couldn't get people to do more than 18 to 20 hour shifts without a need for a rest at some point. The Zord Bay had more money and manpower thrown at it within the space of a few hours than in the previous year, knowing that whatever Evox was preparing was likely coming soon.

The signs were promising. Evox had lost his most powerful lieutenants. Both Robo-Blaze and Robo-Roxy were now gone, and by the desperation of the assault on the Morph-X towers, they were sure he'd had to have lost a significant share of his Tronics too. The feeling throughout the base from the top to the bottom was that the most dangerous days were ahead of them. Evox was getting more desperate, but also had a lot of power, and that just seemed to give them all the impression he was gambling on a single big push that could come at any time.

Joanne came to her quarters, shuffling her feet, utterly exhausted. She was almost at the door, when she heard some yapping from her room. A smile crossed her face. She'd been working now almost a full day, but this was something she'd been looking forward to for hours.

She entered the room, finding Devon with the new puppy. He was keeping his distance, dangling toys at arm's length. The look on his face said all it needed to. The Rangers' powers all came with a downside thanks to some corruption in the code. In Devon's case it was a pronounced phobia of dogs.

It was pretty clear that he was struggling. He'd explained how dogs made him feel, how his fight or flight response kicked in, and he was sent into something of a panic whenever he was around dogs. He'd ended up learning with Bruno, but then Bruno was a large, gentle dog, one that rarely barked or made much noise at all.

He'd explained that was his trigger. It wasn't so much the actual danger dogs presented necessarily, it was the perception of it. If a dog was relatively quiet, if it didn't bear its teeth then he could just about cope, but whenever a dog bore its teeth or it barked, that just kicked off his instincts. It felt like an imminent attack.

He'd actually managed to be alright around larger dogs, even ones that could cause real harm like Alsatians as long as they were quiet, but Jack Russels, Terriers and other small dogs had a habit of being very noisy, needing to let people know they were there and warning them off. It seemed nonsensical to someone who didn't have such a fear when they saw a grown adult recoiling in fear at a tiny dog that seemingly was no threat. Some even found it funny and encouraged the dog. However, it was just a natural instinct he could do little about.

She couldn't help watching for a moment. For all his fear, as uncomfortable as it was clear he was around the young pup, he was trying hard to begin to forge a relationship. He'd gotten the dog for her, knowing how much she loved them, and was making an effort to address his phobia for her. She came in, reaching down to the little puppy, picking it up.

"Hey, there you are. I've been waiting all day to meet you." She said, cuddling him warmly. "How have things been?"

"It's been...good." Devon said, almost sounding relieved when she picked up the dog. "I think we're just about understanding each other."

"Are you sure you're alright?" She asked.

"You keep telling me it's just like...saying hello, right?" Devon asked. "It's just like a kid."

"You have no idea what this means to me." She answered, kissing him softly, before sitting on the couch, holding the dog closely and scratching him behind the ears. "So, does he have a name?"

"I thought I'd leave that to you." He answered.

"You don't have to do that, he's going to be part of both our lives." She reminded him.

"Please, go ahead." He told her. She looked to the little dog, taking in his appearance.

"I know it might be a little cliché, but with this patch over his eye...how about Patch?" She asked.

"You know, in the comics, Hawkeye's dog had a real patch, he called it Lucky." Devon told her. She just gave him a little glare.

"I thought you didn't want to name him." She responded.

"It was just a suggestion." He said sheepishly. "So, Patch?"

"You know, now that I think about it, I do kind of like the sound of Lucky." She answered, looking at the dog again. "What do you think, Lucky?"

The dog yapped and squirmed contentedly in her arms. She did like Patch, but as she looked at Devon, seeing a little bit of a smile on his face, she could only think of all the effort he was going to, keeping his phobia in check for her sake, and thought perhaps this was a compromise she could make.

"Alright, looks like it's two to one. Lucky it is." She said, gesturing Devon in. He moved slowly, recoiling a little as Lucky yapped at him, but he finally sat with her, at which she wrapped an arm around him, kissing his cheek softly.

"Thank you." She whispered. "You have no idea how much I love this."

"You know, from here, it doesn't look too bad either." He replied.

Elsewhere on the base, Betty was just about to begin her night shift, and was just getting some coffee. Ben and Cole had already headed to the security room to get the handover from the previous shift.

Even the canteen was deserted right now. Everyone on the base was either already off shift or assigned to other duties to prepare for any moves Evox was about to make.

She had just finished preparing the coffees and was about to leave when she jumped with a start. She hadn't noticed someone else was in the room. Sitting quietly in a dark corner was Steel.

"Jeez, I didn't even notice you there." She commented. "What are you doing in the dark?"

"I don't need light to work." He told her, tapping his lenses. She noticed some tools out on the table, along with an assortment of parts, and one of Steel's arms, lying on the table.

"Steel, are you OK?" She asked. "If you're damaged..."

"The engineers seemed to be busy; I didn't want to give them any more work." He told her. "And Nate and Zoe are working on something in the lab, they said I needed to stay out, that they weren't ready to show anyone, and Meghan's still in medical so I didn't want to bother anyone."

"Steel, it isn't bothering anyone, if you're damaged..."

"It's fine." Steel said distantly. Betty already knew it wasn't. If he'd been fully human, if he'd had a flesh and blood arm that was hanging off and was screaming in agony, she knew he'd likely have been in medical already.

"No, it isn't!" She told him, sitting down with him. "Here, let me have a look."

She looked into the workings of the arm, but was squinting hard to see.

"Lights!" She called out. The lights came up, letting her see what she was doing. "What happened?"

"Occupational hazard." Steel told her. "It's no big deal."

"Steel, it is." She answered, picking up a screwdriver and starting to work. "OK, I might not be Nate, but I think I can work with this. Just looks like a few loose connections."

"I always seem to have a screw loose." Steel commented. She carried on, looking into the workings.

"The good news is I don't need to be a surgeon, just a half-decent engineer." She said, continuing to inspect the inner workings for faults. "I suppose the advantage is my patient isn't lying on a bed screaming in pain when I'm working on them."

Steel didn't say anything. She had been trying to make light of the situation, but clearly she had struck a nerve.

"I think I've found the problem..."

"What's this?" He asked, gesturing to her hand. She looked to the back of it, seeing some long, white marks.

"Oh, that? It's just some scars...that's from when I got my hand caught in the wheel of my bike when I was trying to get some twigs out from the spokes." She told him. "That one hurt, I can tell you! I needed someone to write my schoolwork for a week!"

"Do you have any other scars?" He asked. She just looked at him, and thought about it.

"More than I care to admit." She responded. "I'm sure you've noticed, I'm more than a little clumsy. I always have been. There was hardly a cup of hot coffee or a sharp object or a pavement I didn't seem to be magnetically drawn to."

"What are some of them?" Steel asked her.

"Well...I have a pretty nice one on this leg." She told him, tapping her left calf. "I was dragged by a riding pony at the petting zoo."

"Right here, that was where I got hit by Robo Roxy's bayonet." He told her, pointing to his arm. She squinted, moving in closely.

"I...I don't see anything." She told him.

"You wouldn't, that's because this isn't the same plate I had there when it happened." He responded.

"I should finish this." Betty responded. He reached up to her head, brushing some hair from her face. She turned to face him as his fingers went to her forehead, tracing a faint scar.

"What was this one?" He asked.

"Fell off my bike and ate the pavement." She said, staring into his face as he traced her scar. "Um...yeah...bikes and me didn't have the greatest relationship."

"I've heard people talk about their scars all the time. Some of the soldiers brag about their battle scars. Some of the engineers laugh about theirs." He said, staring intently at her. Betty just looked into his eyes, her chest tightening a little. "All those stories that they wear right there on their bodies, some good, some bad, but all of them about how they got through something bad and came out the other side."

Betty tried to say something, but she couldn't get the words out. She just stared at him as his gentle touch moved from her forehead down to her cheek.

"In my case, they just need a hammer and some polish to get rid of them." He stated.

"I...um..."

An alarm sounded, interrupting them. Steel grabbed his arm, reattaching it.

"Duty calls." He stated. As he ran out. Betty just sat, staring after him.

Up in the Command Centre, the Rangers all arrived, along with Joanne, finding the Commander already staring at the screen.

"What is it?" Ravi asked.

"The sensors are all going haywire!" One of the attendants called out. "All of them! Whatever's coming it's big and it's powerful!"

"And it looks like we won't have long to wait for it." Zoey added, pointing to the screen as a portal, the largest they'd ever seen, appeared over the city. The sky seemed to be ripped open, and lightning arced to the streets below, darkening streets for several blocks all around. A huge, dark shape, larger than anything they'd ever seen before descended through the portal.

"What the fuck is that?" Ravi shrieked.

"That's...the biggest Zord I've ever seen!" Nate stammered. "The power levels are incredible."

"Does that thing have six heads?" Devon asked, before looking to Joanne. "Joanne, I know your guys have been working flat out, but what are the Zords looking like?"

"They're not ready!" She told him. "They're only at eighty percent!"

"Is that going to be enough?" Zoey asked.

"It's going to have to be." Devon sighed. "OK, come on, let's do this! IT'S MORPHIN TIME!"